Active imagination

Active imagination refers to a process or technique of engaging with the ideas or images in one's imagination, and is used as a mental strategy to communicate with the subconscious mind. In Jungian psychology, it is a method for bridging the conscious and unconscious minds. Instead of being linked to the Jungian process, the word "active imagination" in modern psychology is most frequently used to describe a propensity to have a very creative and present imagination. By examining the most evident manifestations of the unconscious mind—dreams—a person can learn how to execute this method on themselves. It is thought to be a crucial aid in the process of individuation. It employs creative imagination as an organ for "perceiving outside your mental boxes". For the first hundred years of active imagination, it was applied primarily by individuals for exploring their sub- and unconscious; hence its value in psycho-therapeutic settings. Until the "inner child" theme in the 1970s, active imagination was most closely associated with C. G. Jung's experiments with himself and with clients emphasizing its therapeutic value. In the 1980s, active imagination found uses in commercial disciplines, for example, architecture and molecular biology (how do those complex molecules fit together?). Where active imagination seeks to perceive what is already present, fantasy intends to create where nothing yet exists. The theosophy of post-Renaissance Europe embraced imaginal cognition. From Jakob Böhme to Swedenborg, active imagination played a large role in theosophical works. In this tradition, the active imagination serves as an "organ of the soul, thanks to which humanity can establish a cognitive and visionary relationship with an intermediate world". Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English philosopher, made a distinction between imagination expressing realities of an imaginal realm above our mundane personal existence and "fancy", or fantasy, which represents the creativity of the artistic soul.